PANIC alarms could be issued to paramedics in Winsford and Middlewich following a worrying rise in the number of attacks on them by violent patients.

Over the past six months there have been 43 assaults on members of the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service, which responds to 999 calls in the Winsford and Middlewich area.

There is growing alarm in the ambulance service over the number of attacks, and bosses are now looking at ways of reducing the number of violent incidents.

Among the options being considered are issuing the service's 650 paramedics with personal alarms and training them to defuse potentially violent situations.

Peter Mulcahy, the ambulance service's western area manager, has labelled the attack statistics as "totally unacceptable."

He said: "If our staff have to spend time in hospital receiving treatment there is a danger that a person who needs an ambulance will miss out, meaning possible loss of life.

"We are now looking at initiatives such as giving staff personal attack alarms, or training on defusing potentially violent incidents."

The service's front-line paramedics are so worried by the escalation in the number of attacks that their union has called for knife-resistant body armour to be issued.

David Todhunter, chief executive of the Mersey Ambulance Trust, described the attack statistics as "disgusting" and blamed much of the problem on drunkenness.

He said: "Many of the attacks come from people who have lost control when they are drunk. They are a blight on our society."

Another area of concern for the ambulance service is terrorist attacks, following incidents at Wilmslow, Crewe and Aintree last year.

Fifteen ambulances - including one based at Winsford - have this month entered service in the region equipped with a powerful public address system.

Mr Todhunter said: "We have learned from terrorist incidents such as those at Wilmslow and Crewe that there is a very clear need for effective public announcement systems.

"The forced evacuation of the Grand National event last year demonstrated this more than anything else, so we have taken the initiative to equip every new emergency ambulance with the facility."

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